Cars need maintenance to keep running, but some autobody shops are overcharging customers.
It can all depend on where you take your car to be fixed, our sister station WFXT in Boston reported.
Earlier this year, undercover shoppers with Boston Consumers’ Checkbook called 229 auto repair shops nationwide with a simple question — “How much would it cost for a routine 30,000-mile maintenance on a 2020 Toyota Camry?”
The maintenance for that three-year-old car would be as basic as it gets: an oil change, new cabin and engine air filters and tire rotation.
“We were astonished at the price differences we were quoted,” Consumers’ Checkbook Executive Editor Kevin Brasler said.
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Brasler said 47 shops quoted prices less than $200, but 29 others priced the job at $400 or more.
Six locations said they’d charge more than $1,000 and two Toyota dealerships said it would cost $1,400, he said.
News Center 7 reached out to multiple local Toyota dealerships for estimates.
All four dealerships priced a tire rotation and oil change at around $100, with additional services costing up to $525.
Chris Macleod owns Surban Auto south of Boston, he said most drivers would be better off avoiding the package and paying for a regular oil change and tire rotation instead.
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“I do agree with that, and that’s what we recommend to our customers as well. Come in for your regular maintenance and we’re automatically checking all those tires, all those fluids, and giving a visual inspection while it’s on the lift,” Macleod said.
Brasler warned to watch out for shops that recommend unnecessary work.
“I think this is a problem. I think a lot of shops are able to overcharge their customers for things like 30,000-mile maintenance or 60,000-mile maintenance because customers don’t know what the car needs and they assume it needs a lot done,” Brasler said.
He said many higher-priced shops want to charge for maintenance that went beyond Toyota’s recommendation for 30,000-mile service — things like flushing the radiator, replacing spark plugs, and performing well alignments.
You can also save cash by doing the easy stuff at home, like replacing air filters or topping off fluids.